The present invention relates in general to machining and manufacturing lines and in particular to a method and apparatus for transporting panel sections away from a panel saw to enable the facilitated, high-speed sychronized advance of workpiece panels to the panel saw.
In a manufacturing line, where sections of material are cut from larger stock pieces, as, for example, where panel sections are cut from a workpiece panel by a panel saw, a problem arises in that the cut sections must be removed from the vicinity of the saw blade, in order to prevent "piling up" of the cut panel sections, which would impede the advance of the workpiece panel. Advance of the workpiece panel, and the overall rate of producing cut panel sections, are therefore necessarily limited by the rate at which the cut panel sections are removed. One known method of removing panel sections is as follows. After each cut has been made, panel sections severed from a workpiece panel are raised behind the panel saw to such an extent that immediately afterwards the workpiece panel can be repositioned at a high advancing speed in the direction of advance in the panel saw and clamped in position to enable a panel section to be cut off. Meanwhile, the panel section which, has been previously cut off and raised, is transported further on in the direction of advance and then lowered for transferral to a conveying device following the panel saw.
Transportation of single panel sections from the panel saw to the conveying device in the direction of advance involves a relatively large space requirement behind the panel saw. It is particularly disadvantageous that the transporting device for transporting single panel sections must cover a relatively large idle path in the direction opposite the direction of advance after a panel section has been deposited, as this excludes the possibility of coordinating the transportation of panel sections with the cutting off of panel sections which would achieve clocked synchronization of the severing of the panels and the transporting away of panel sections in the best possible time sequence.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to so improve a method wherein a panel section is raised above the plane of support of a workpiece panel after being cut therefrom, transported parallel to the plane of support and perpendicularly to the cutting plane of the panel saw to a conveying means, such that substantially less space behind the panel saw and considerably less transportation time are required to transport single panel sections to the conveying device, thereby enabling continuous operation of the panel saw at high advancing speeds.
This and other objects of the invention will become apparent in light of the present specification and drawings.